Prospective application of Cenvat credit time limit bars denial for invoices issued before the amendment took effect.

The six-month time limit for availing Cenvat credit introduced by Notification No. 21/2014-CE applied prospectively and could not be used to reject credit on invoices issued before 1.9.2014. The Tribunal followed its earlier decisions and held that, unless the notification clearly provided otherwise, the amended limitation condition did not govern pre-amendment invoices. Credit taken after six months from invoice date was therefore not deniable merely by reference to the later amendment, and the denial of Cenvat credit was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether the six-month time limit for availing Cenvat credit introduced by Notification No. 21/2014-CE dated 11.07.2014 applied to invoices issued before the notification took effect on 1.9.2014.

Analysis: The dispute concerned denial of Cenvat credit on the ground that it was taken after six months from the invoice date. The operative question was whether the amended limitation condition could be applied to invoices issued before the amendment became effective. The Tribunal followed its earlier decisions holding that the six-month restriction, from 1.9.2014, was not intended to govern Cenvatable invoices issued prior to that date.

Conclusion: The six-month limitation did not apply to invoices issued before 1.9.2014, and the denial of credit was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: An amendment prescribing a time limit for availing Cenvat credit operates prospectively and cannot be applied to invoices issued before its effective date unless the notification clearly so provides.

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